The Room

This article is about the 2003 film starring Tommy Wiseau. For the 2015 film starring Brie Larson, see Room (2015 film). For other uses, see The Room (disambiguation).

The Room
A black-and-white poster for the movie shows Tommy Wiseau's face looking directly at the viewer.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTommy Wiseau
Written byTommy Wiseau
Produced byTommy Wiseau
Starring
CinematographyTodd Barron
Edited byEric Yalkut Chase
Music byMladen Milicevic
Production
company
Wiseau-Films
Distributed by
  • Chloe Productions
  • TPW Films
Release date
  • June 27, 2003 (2003-06-27)
(Los Angeles)
Running time
99 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6 million[2]
Box office$5.2 million[3]

The Room is a 2003 American independent romantic drama film written, directed, and produced by Tommy Wiseau, who also stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. Set in San Francisco, the film is centered around a melodramatic love triangle between amiable banker Johnny (Wiseau), his deceptive fiancée Lisa (Danielle), and his conflicted best friend Mark (Sestero). The work was reportedly intended to be semi-autobiographical in nature. According to Wiseau, the title alludes to the potential of a room to be the site of both good and bad events.[4] The stage play from which the film is derived was so named due to its events taking place entirely in a single room.[5]

A number of publications have labeled The Room as one of the worst films ever made, one even describing it as "the Citizen Kane of bad movies".[6] Originally shown only in a limited number of California theaters, The Room quickly became a cult film due to its bizarre and unconventional storytelling, technical and narrative issues, and Wiseau's performance, which is often described as off-kilter. Although Wiseau has retrospectively described the film as a black comedy, audiences have generally viewed it as a poorly made drama, an opinion shared by some of the cast. Although the film was a box-office bomb, home-media sales and notoriety following its initial release significantly increased its public profile.[7]

The Disaster Artist, Sestero's memoir of the making of The Room, was co-written with Tom Bissell and published in 2013. A film of the same title based on the book, directed by and starring James Franco, was released on December 1, 2017; the book and film received widespread acclaim and numerous award nominations. A spiritual successor starring Bob Odenkirk is set to be released at an unspecified date; it was initially planned to be released in 2023, which would have coincided with the twentieth anniversary of The Room.[8]

  1. ^ Foundas, Scott (July 17, 2003). "Review: 'The Room'". Variety. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  2. ^ Jones, Nate (June 27, 2013). "How The Room Became the Biggest Cult Film of the Past Decade". Vulture. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  3. ^ "The Room". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference qa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Sestero & Bissell 2013, p. 228.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ew2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "The Room". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  8. ^ Murphy, J. Kim (March 9, 2023). "Bob Odenkirk Says He's Starring in a Remake of Tommy Wiseau's 'The Room': 'I Tried My Best to Sell Every Line'". Variety. Archived from the original on August 8, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.